Reflections on Race: The sharecropping Fuseliers
Each February, we hear stories of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and other civil rights icons. We must also talk about trailblazers in our own families.
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Lafayette
COLUMN: Passing a local mask mandate will help Lafayette’s businesses
Lost in the rancor is consideration of the positive impact that a mask mandate will have on Lafayette’s businesses.
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Seeking refuge and renewal, venerable Lake Charles restaurants set up shop in Lafayette
Either divine guidance or cosmic providence sent Luna Bar & Grill and Mama Reta’s to set up shop in Lafayette after one natural disaster and in the middle of another.
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UPDATE: LCG passes $7 million rent assistance plan
December’s booster shot of federal stimulus will send $7 million in rent and utility assistance to Lafayette Parish, a figure that dwarfs previous local allocations but that advocates say still falls short of projected need. LCG is working through how to get the money out quickly.
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Antibody infusions are stemming Covid hospitalizations in Lafayette
Doctors at Lourdes and Ochsner Lafayette General believe the infusion has prevented hundreds of hospital admissions and dozens of deaths so far.
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Would be co-sponsor Nanette Cook formally withdrew her support for an ordinance imposing a local mask mandate Tuesday. Unable to see a practical means of enforcement, she also cited mixed messages from unidentified “medical professionals” among her reasons for backing out.
Some 2,000 calls flooded the council office for and against the proposed ordinance, which The Current first reported last week. Misinformation about the what the local law would do has swarmed social media.
Glenn Lazard, who is in and out of treatment for leukemia, is pressing forward. But with Cook’s support, the ordinance won’t have a veto-proof voting block to carry it.
“I still have plans to go forward with it,” City Council member Glenn Lazard told the Advocate. “It’s the right thing to do and I’m still hopeful I will receive the necessary support to pass it
OPINION: The library board’s censorship is not apolitical
At a time when Lafayette needs to be rallying together to support our libraries, the library board’s attempt to be apolitical has created a political nightmare.
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Conversation: Does Lafayette need a mask mandate?
The science on masks is sound — they work. But a mask mandate is a different tool. Do you think Lafayette ought to pass a local ordinance enforcing a local mandate?
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Renovation and reinvention: What it’s like to open a restaurant in mid-pandemic Lafayette
Custom build outs for visionary concepts like Grocery Tavern & Delicatessen, Tchoup’s MidCity Smokehouse and Vestal take time. In a pandemic, they take even longer.
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The pandemic surfaced deep disparities in access to healthcare, with early data showing a disproportionate impact on the Black community. So far, Louisiana isn’t collecting sufficient data to know whether those disparities are playing out in who gets vaccinated. It’s not just about the logistics of where doses go, either. Health officials speculate that generational distrust of government health programs among Black Americans, seeded by medical experiments conducted by public health agencies, may ward them away. Health equity has become a point of emphasis in public policy — both Louisiana and Lafayette Consolidated Government, for instance, created health equity task forces.
But right now, we don’t have a clear picture of the issue with respect to the vaccine program.
Say hello (again) to the Great Boudini, Lafayette
Acadiana’s French immersion students are about to make a new animated friend. But he’s an old pal for many of their parents.
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With virtually no discussion, Lafayette’s City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to create a committee to review what city taxpayers get out consolidated government. The resolution creates a seven-member group called the “Protect the City Committee,” which will convene for six months and report its findings.
This could be a first step toward putting measure to break up combined form of government before voters.
City voters can apply to join the committee by sending a resume to [email protected]